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"How much did Santa's sled cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This joke is met by moans that echo through a warehouse in London.

We're at a joke-testing session with a company that makes products for social events. Its repertoire features Christmas crackers.

The firm's founder smiles, nearly apologetically at the gag. But the pun has been selected and will appear in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans around the table," the founder explains.

The key to a good holiday cracker joke is not the same as a good gag in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the shared amusement of the holiday meal with grandparents, kids and possibly neighbours.

"You want the joke to be a thing that unites the child in harmony with the 80-year-old," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Amusement

Gathering to enjoy communal laughter is not only ancient, experts argue, it is likely to be older than humanity.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with others at the Christmas table you are engaging in what's almost certainly a truly primordial mammal play vocalisation," explains a professor.

Communal laughter, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social connections between individuals.

Scientists have found that a lack of such interactions can seriously damage mental and physical health.

"Those you talk to, and share laughter with, it leads to increased amounts of 'happy chemical' uptake," she adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are released both to alleviate tension and discomfort and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as laughing with friends over a particularly awful Christmas cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are actually doing a lot of the truly vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with the people you love."

What Happens Inside the Brain?

But what is truly happening inside the brain when we listen to a joke?

An awful lot occurs in response to comedy, it transpires.

Employing brain scanning technology, a type of brain scanner which shows which areas of the mind are more active, researchers have been able to map the areas that receive more blood.

Testing entails imaging the brains of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a collection of humorous phrases, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or pre-recorded laughter.

"During the study we got a really fascinating activation pattern of neural activity," notes the neuroscientist.

A joke stimulates not just the areas of the brain responsible for auditory processing and interpreting language, but also brain areas involved in both preparation and initiating movement and those linked to sight and memory.

Combine all of this as a whole, and people listening to a pun have a sophisticated set of neural reactions that support the amusement we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Researchers discovered that when a humorous word is combined with laughter there is a stronger response in the mind than the identical word when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would use to move your face into a grin or a chuckle," she explains.

It indicates people are not just responding to funny jokes, they are reacting to the amusement that follows them.

Laughter, says the professor, can be infectious.

So what does this mean for the chuckles heard around a holiday gathering?

"People laugh harder when you are familiar with others," she says, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she explains, the positive effect is more probable to be caused not by the joke in itself, but from the response to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the terrible Christmas cracker pun, and it's just a pretext to laugh as a group."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the ultimate joke?

Likely not, but that has not prevented researchers from trying to.

Years ago, a professor established a research project for the world's funniest joke.

Over 40,000 gags submitted, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a better idea than most as to what works and what fails.

The perfect Christmas cracker pun must be short, he explains.

"They must also need to be poor gags, puns that cause us to moan," he adds.

The increasingly "terrible" the gag, he says the better.

"The reason is that if nobody laughs – it's the joke's fault, not yours.

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker puns is that not one person find them humorous.

"It creates a shared experience at the table and I think it's wonderful."